Phil Stacey comes home - and brings a few friends, too

ROGER BULL

American Idol finally moves from the small screen to the big stage. The 56-concert American Idols Live tour begins tonight in South Florida and makes a stop Sunday at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. The concert features the 10 finalists from the top-rated TV show, including Jacksonville sailor Phil Stacey, performing live, without the judges. The jubilant Jordin Sparks, the beat-boxing Blake Lewis, the mercurial Melinda Doolittle and, uh, Sanjaya Malakar. Stacey recently offered up a few details of the tour.

The concert will run about two hours, and each performer will sing only one song alone. And there are only a couple of songs featuring everyone. Mostly, there will be a lot of duos and trios. The guys get together for their own band.

So what are you singing?

I can't say. It's a big surprise. But it was my favorite song that I sang during the show.

Q: Then that would be Blaze of Glory, wouldn't it?

OK, but you didn't hear it from me.

Q: Before, you said you wanted to sing a patriotic song in your uniform.

Yes, that's happening, but it's also a group thing. There will be a nice presentation.

Do you travel by bus?

The contestants travel in two buses: one for the boys, one for the girls. (Stacey, however, hopes to ride in a car with his wife, Kendra, when she's able to travel along with the tour.)

What's going on in your personal life?

Talks are still continuing about his future in the Navy. He's still scheduled to get out October 2008 and plans to return to duty in Jacksonville after the tour. And he still has two children. "I might have had some news," he said. "But I found out yesterday that I don't."

Here's what Phil Stacey had to say about the final 10 Idol finalists who are on the tour, and when the tour will play at, or close to, their hometowns:

Chris Sligh "One of my best friends here. We immediately clicked at the auditions in Memphis. One of the most talented musicians I've ever met. He also keeps things light, a very funny guy." (Greenville, S.C., Tuesday)

Gina Glocksen "Also a dear friend who I met in Memphis. She's a great girl, almost magnetic. To be honest, I predicted her being in the top three." (Rosemont, Ill., Aug. 7)

Haley Scarnato "I didn't get to know her until closer to top 12. I haven't experienced a lot outside of her singing voice. But I thought she had a Faith Hill quality to her voice. And she's also a dancer." (San Antonio, Texas, July 16)

Sanjaya Malakar "I think he gets slapped for being a singer. The truth is, he's a fantastic singer. Go back and listen to his original audition when he did Stevie Wonder. Everyone loved him for that. And he turned into quite a performer. I'm a Sanjaya fan." (Tacoma, Wash., July 27)

Chris Richardson "What's funny about Chris is that I don't think America really saw him in his element. To get as far as he did without that shows how gifted he is. When he's at his best is playing acoustic guitar and sharing songs that he's written." (Hampton, Va., Sept. 18)

LaKisha Jones "With me, the thing I've loved is the passion in her voice. I think everyone got chills when she first came out and sang And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." (Auburn Hills, Mich., Aug. 12)

Melinda Doolittle "It's really simple, the best singer I've ever heard. She doesn't sing a bad note. I'll see her during the day, and she can't even talk, then she gets in the studio and she's perfect." (Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday)

Blake Lewis "The best performance I saw out of Blake wasn't on the show. We were watching a preview for the Simpsons movie and the executive producer came in and asked Blake to sing Papa Was a Rolling Stone. We looked at each other said 'That dude can win this.' It had nothing to do with beat boxing." (Tacoma, Wash., July 27)

Jordin Sparks "A freak of nature. She's 17 and has the most powerful voice you'll ever hear, like Mariah Carey or Christina Aguilera when she was young. There's a whole box of unopened potential waiting to come out. And she's the sweetest girl." (Glendale, Ariz., July 18).